Men’s State League 1 Round 8 Review

ROUND eight saw the Hawkesbury City SC record their first win of the campaign while North Shore and Rydalmere stayed unbeaten to keep the pressure on the league leaders Hills going into the halfway mark.

MATCH OF THE ROUND: Hawkesbury City SC 3 (Daglis 2 and Mawein) v Inter Lions 1
Hawkesbury City got themselves off the bottom of the Men’s State League 1 ladder with an impressive 3-1 win despite being reduced to ten men halfway through the first half.
Hawks created the first opportunity that also lead to the opening goal. A long ball found Evan Daglis down the left, who was brought down inside the box. The target man strode up and slotted coolly for 1-nil lead.
Going behind sprung the Lions into action, earning a free-kick deep in the home side’s territory. It was swung in to meet the head of Luke Wright, unable to force it home.
After a midfield tussle, Hawkesbury were reduced to ten men in the 16^th minute after Prasheel Sharma was judged to fling an arm at his opponent earning him an early shower.
Inter used the man advantage to create several chances in the first half, mostly engineered by Domenic Arcella, lively throughout the contest.
His cross almost found the head of Lions’ leading scorer Rosario Occhipinti in the 20^th minute but the striker wasn’t able to put the finish on the ball.
Daglis following his goal played the role of a target man well when Hawkesbury were reduced to ten men, earning key free-kicks in dangerous positions. His 30^th minute effort forced a pushing save from the Inter custodian.
The Lions had their chance back into the game four minutes after. Domenico Di Mento went on a mazy run that led to a daft challenge in the box. Michele Pezzano stood up to take but was denied by a diving Daniel Schwarzer.
It would build to double trouble for the Lions as Hawkesbury pounced on their mistake right before the break. A diagonal pass, found Daglis onside once again and he shrugged off his men to put the ball between the keeper’s legs for 2-nil.
Inter once again started brightly in the second half, but weren’t able to put the ball in the net. James Mawein added a third for the home team to secure the win. The Lions clawed one back late for the 3-1 scoreline.
David Bertenshaw was delighted with his troops after the game.
“It was an outstanding win from a team reduced to ten men.”
MATCH STATS
Hawkesbury City SC 3 (Daglis ’10, ’46 and Mawein)
Yellow cards: Belcastro and Cullen
Red card: Prasheel Sharma
Inter Lions 1
Rydalmere 3 (Gautier 2 and Smith) v Western NSW Mariners FC 3 (Davis, Guihot and Scimone)
It was a tense battle in Sydney’s west, as Rydalmere held the rampant Mariners to a draw with a late equaliser forcing the teams to share the spoils. Andrew Fearnley’s men responded to their Westfield FFA Cup defeat well with their pressing forcing helping them to a 2-nil lead.
Rydalmere worked back into the game with a goal before half-time as Amaury Guatier scored either side of half-time. Nathan Davis restored the lead for the visitors before the Lions cracking free-kick made it 3-all.
Hills Brumbies 3 (G. Giovenali, W. Giovenali and Morsillo) vs Gladesville Ryde Magic 0
Mark Giovenali’s men responded to their lacklustre win last week with an emphatic 3-nil win over a disappointing Gladesville side to hold their position at the top of Men’s State League One.
It was a customary goal for Daniel Morsillo making it nine for the season, with Wade and Greg Giovenali both getting on the scoresheet to round out the win. The Brumbies are building their title aspirations each week with these kind of wins.
Stanmore Hawks 2 (Awad and Philippou) v Granville Rage 0
The Rage were unable to build on their mid-week thrashing of Nepean, falling to a Stanmore side that has made it three wins on the bounce now. The Hawks have swooped into fourth place with their form in the last month.
James Webb stood tall in goals earning a second cleansheet allowing Neil Philippou and commanding midfielder Sam Awad to put away the tired Rage side.
North Shore Mariners 2 (Cole and Woodward) vs Nepean FC 0
The Mariners are creating a tussle up the top, as Joe Haywood and his men put away Nepean with ease despite missing quite a few chances throughout the game.
Michael Cole’s sixth of the season alongside a Ricky Woodward strike was enough for the three points to keep pace with Hills and establish themselves as a team with threats all around the park evidenced by their +16 goal difference.
Balmain Tigers FC 0 v Dulwich Hill FC 4 (Calcagno, Cornish, Hrysanthos and Yin)
Sunday afternoon brought a statement win for a Dully team that had struggled to win in the past month. Norm Tome run the changes for his side and it has helped to change their fortunes to record the win.
Dully found their shooting boots after they were missing for several weeks, with goalscoring mainstay Stephen Hrysanthos adding another to his tally while Frank Calcagno, Sam Cornish and Alex Yin also scoring.